Isandla
Institute and the Open Society Foundation for South Africa invite you
to a Development Dialogue on

'The
War on Poverty': Changing Tactics or Business as Usual?

Thursday 17
April 2008,
16h30 -
18h00

(tea and coffee
served beforehand, please be seated at 16h30)

Centre for the
Book, Cape Town

In
his 2008 State of the Nation Address, characterised by the phrase ‘Business
Unusual’, President Thabo Mbeki emphasised the need to intensify efforts to
reduce poverty. He spoke about a ‘War Against Poverty’, highlighting the
importance of scaling up existing anti-poverty initiatives and integrating these
into a coherent and comprehensive anti-poverty strategy. But given the mixed
success of anti-poverty interventions to date, does government have the capacity
to scale up these interventions sufficiently and speedily to address the scourge
of poverty? Does the proposed ‘War Against Poverty’ target all dimensions and
manifestations of poverty, or are there particular blind spots that need to be
brought to the fore? What about inequality, for example? And is government able
to overcome the institutional challenges of an integrated, cross-sectoral and
intergovernmental approach to poverty?

Malusi
Gigaba, MP(Deputy
Minister for Home Affairs, t.b.c.), Michael
Aliber(PLAAS)
and Elroy
Paulus
(Black Sash) have been invited to share their perspectives on these questions.

The
Development Dialogue will be held on Thursday 17 April 2008 from 16h30-18h00, at
the Centre for the Book, 62 Queen Victoria Street, Cape Town. Tea and coffee are
made available between 16h00-16h30. Kindly note that the event will start at
16h30. Afterwards, there will be an opportunity for informal interaction over
drinks and snacks.

If
you are interested in attending this event, please r.s.v.p. on
admin@isandla.org.za
by Tuesday 15 April. You will receive confirmation of your
attendance.